Who is the Colorado Criminal Justice Reform Coalition?

Our mission is to reverse the trend of mass incarceration in Colorado. We are a coalition of nearly 7,000 individual members and over 100 faith and community organizations who have united to stop perpetual prison expansion in Colorado through policy and sentence reform.

Our chief areas of interest include drug policy reform, women in prison, racial injustice, the impact of incarceration on children and families, the problems associated with re-entry and stopping the practice of using private prisons in our state.

Thursday, January 20, 2011

The number of reported crimes in Denver decreased an average of 5 percent in the past year, dropping to levels not seen since the turn of the century, authorities say.

The total number of murders dropped 13 percent, from 38 in 2009 to 33 in 2010, according to police. The number of aggravated assaults and sexual assaults also dropped.

"We're obviously pleased," said Lt. Matt Murray, Denver police spokesman. "We're always doing things to decrease crime with new techniques and technology. Clearly we're doing things right. But it wouldn't be fair to speculate on all the factors that contributed to the reduction."

Overall, the crime rate across the country is dropping, he said, and societal changes are contributing to the decline.

According to the Denver Police Department's Data Analysis Unit, crimes against persons declined by 1.4 percent and property crimes dropped by 4.1 percent.

The new figures do not take into account population increases, Murray said. The comparisons are strictly based on total numbers of reported crimes, he said.

The number of burglaries dropped by 6.3 percent, robberies by 5.6 percent and motor-vehicle thefts by 8.9 percent.

Murray said Denver uses DNA to solve burglaries, a factor that can dramatically reduce crime. When the department takes one prolific burglar off the street, it can prevent 30 additional burglaries, he said.

One area that bucked the trend was larceny, which went up by 7.4 percent, police said.

Crimes for which police officers have increased the frequency of patrolling also went up.

The number of prostitution arrests, for example, went up by 73 percent, and child pornography arrests jumped by 15 percent.